Parking garage not the only solution: Readers React

An artist's rendering shows a proposed parking ramp that University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point officials want to build on the current site of a parking lot. Neighbors in the area are opposed to the idea.

Editor's note: Throughout the week, readers give us feedback and discuss issues they care about on our website and ourFacebook page. This week, a proposed new four-story parking garage on campus provoked a lot of reader reaction. Below are excerpts:

We asked: Do you think the new parking garage is a good idea? Do you think this parking garage is a good idea?

I understand the "need" but the folks living in the university area aren't interested in staring at a huge parking monstrosity every day when they open their shades, and I get that. I guess I don't have a good solution for the problem - but would you want a parking garage in your back yard?

- Jessica Zurawski Owens

The new science building will be where lot X is now, so there will be even less parking on campus than before if they take away that lot and do nothing to replace it. I guess I'd prefer having a parking garage to never being able find a parking spot on my street or having the area covered by street parkers expand beyond what it already covers. It's a no-win situation.

- Tenille Pionkowski Nowak

If more people biked or walked to work, that might solve the issue. I know so many people who live really close to work and school but still drive.

- Angela Lowery

Another proposed solution is to not allow freshman a car on campus. I'm down for that. We have a great public bus system and everything freshman need is in the dorms anyway. The only reason they would need a car is to go home, but families can arrange for that. Many major universities don't allow freshman to have cars. I drove seven hours round-trip to pick up my sister from Iowa quite a bit.

- Jeff Stelk

I think it's a great idea. There are fewer than 15 homes that would border the structure and more than 10,000 students and employees at the university. Lot X is going away. Where do the neighbors think those 350 cars will end up once that lot is gone? At least the university is being proactive and trying to solve the issue before it becomes a problem.

- Kim Ales

With land so expensive and parking and low-cost housing in short supply, I think UWSP should build up over their current parking lots. The new science building would be a good place to begin.

- Lynn Marquardt

As a college student at UWSP, I think this idea is great. I drive to school on occasion, mainly in the winter months. And during those months it is difficult to find parking spaces. But I also understand the concerns of the residents who live nearby

- Amber Zaddack

The loss of Lot X will mean more people parking on the street - and then some of the same neighbors may be complaining about all the cars parked on the streets.